My Home, My Real Family
by Lou P.F
Summary: What if Tulip's homing beacon hadn't worked, that fateful night on the boat?


Her whole life, Tulip had been waiting for this moment. The moment she would find out where her real family was. Where she came from. _Who_ _she_ _was_. And Jasper – _Jasper_ , of all people- had just presented her with the opportunity.

With a shaking hand, Tulip reached out and pushed the last, final piece of her beacon next to the others. Her heart stuttered, the world tilted, the air around her shuddered -

and nothing happened. "…oh," she said. "Wait, no, it has to work-" She tore out the piece and tried to insert it again. The beacon _looked_ complete – all the pieces were there, nothing was missing – why wasn't it working? "It's not- it's not working," Tulip whispered, and took a step back. She wrapped her arms around herself, and fought back tears.

Her last hope. Her _final_ hope, the _only_ thing she had to help her get _home_ – and it _didn't work_. "Uhm," Junior said. "Tulip-"

Tulip heaved a heavy breath, and took another step back. Her back collided with metal, and she slowly slid to the ground. Junior made a worried, albeit desperate, noise and walked over to her. "I'm fine," Tulip said, but her voice quivered and broke. Some tears escaped her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. "I – this shouldn't hurt so much, I never expected to find them before now anyway, why-" She interrupted herself with a sob, and Junior sat down next to her.

"Hey," he said, softly. "You – you might still find your family, it's not impossible!"

"It is," Jasper said, his voice apologetic. "It really is, without her homing beacon. I'm sorry, Tulip."

Tulip drew another shuddering breath as Junior scooted closer. "It's not – not your fault, Jasper," she whispered, more tears quietly trickling down her cheeks. "Besides, I've still got Stork Mountain, right? I'm not completely lost!"

Junior inhaled sharply, which caused Tulip to shoot him a worried look. "Yeah," Junior said, grimacing slightly. "Uh, about that…" Fear spiked through her, and Tulip turned her whole body to face him. "I was supposed to fire you…"

Tulip shattered.

It didn't matter how sorry he appeared to be, or how truly he regretted having to tell her this right now, it still hurt like hell. "Wh- what?" Tulip asked, and her voice was a mere whisper in the wind.

"Well, yes," Junior muttered, rubbing his neck awkwardly with his good wing. "Liberate. Free. Yes. Fire." More tears welled up in Tulips eyes. "I'm sorry," Junior told her quietly, scooting even closer to put his good wing on her knee. He didn't say anything, but the simple touch comforted Tulip more than she dared to realize.

"What do I _do_?" she whispered, horror taking over her as he buried her face in her hands. "Oh my God what am I going to do? I have nowhere to go!"

Junior moved the good wing from her knee to her shoulder, and hesitantly pulled her into an awkward hug. Tulip curled up into his side and screwed her eyes shut, drawing all the comfort she could from her friend. "We – we'll figure it out," Junior said.

"We?" Tulip whispered, voice nearly breaking again. She wasn't sure what to think right now- there were so many emotions burning inside and through her.

"We," Junior agreed softly. "Let's deliver this baby, and then… we'll figure out the rest."

Strangely enough, Tulip found that statement calming, and she sniffed and rubbed at her eyes. "Y – yeah," she stuttered, and blinked hard. Her crying subsided. "Yeah – we – we'll do that. Yeah."

Junior exhaled quietly, and shifted around until he could pull her closer with his good wing. Tulip let him, and wrapped her arms around his neck when she could. "It'll be okay," he whispered, and Tulip squeezed.

"Thank you," she muttered.

Jasper sat down next to them – while keeping his distance – and scratched at his head awkwardly. "Uh, sorry for the interruption," he said, and Tulip opened her eyes to look at him. She refused to let go – not yet. This was much needed comfort, and Junior was warm and soft. "But what's gonna happen now?"

Tulip smiled, and it was just almost forced. "Now we deliver this baby."

"Okay," Junior said. "This is her address, let's go."

Tulip was having none of it, and her hand shot out to grab his cast and pull him back. "No, wait," she muttered. "Doesn't this seem a bit… shady to you?" She gestured at the large, scary warehouses surrounding the building resembling nothing more than a cottage.

Junior shrugged. "Maybe it's a gentrification neighborhood," he said.

Tulip looked at him as if he was crazy, and gestured wildly towards the house. "You can't see through the windows," she hissed. "The grass is just green cardboard – and for God's _sake_ , Junior, there are two stork bodyguard standing just outside!"

Junior grimaced. "Er, yeah… should probably have thought of that."

Tulip bounced Diamond Destiny gently while she spoke in a worried tone. "What do we do? I'm _not_ going over to that house with Diamond Destiny."

Junior gave her an ugly look. "I _told_ you," he hissed. "Her name is _not_ Diamond Destiny!"

Groaning, Tulip rolled her eyes. "Not again," she muttered. "We've already had this discussion. Twice! Her name is Diamond Destiny, and _that. is. final_."

"You know what, nevermind," Junior said, and shook his head. "Nevermind. I don't even care. We gotta find out what to do now."

"Right," Tulip muttered, and turned towards the house again. "This is obviously not her address – or, not the right one at least…"

Junior hummed, and tapped the tip of his beak. "Maybe Hunter changed the Delivery Address?"

"Is that even _possible_?"

Junior shrugged a little helplessly. "I don't know, do you have any other explanation?"

Tulip though for a moment. "Er… no. But how did he even know about her? You didn't tell anyone, did you?"

Junior's eyes widened. "Me?" he asked, disbelief and hurt seeping into his voice. "How can you be accusing _me_? We've spent every moment together ever since you made this baby!"

Feeling a sting of guilt at the bleeding hurt in Junior's eyes, Tulip sighed. "You're right, I'm being silly… sorry."

"Huh, you actually apologized," Junior muttered.

Tulip glared.

"Right, yes… uh, you don't remember her real address, by any chance?"

Tulip's glare faded, and she knew that her current look must have been a desperate one. "No," she said, and shook her head. "Do you?"

"No," Junior muttered. "Argh, what do we _do_? We can't just raise her ourselves, can we?"

"I can't believe we're raising her ourselves," Junior said, forty minutes later, when they were back with Jasper at the docking port.

"But think about it," Tulip said, her voice bursting with excitement. "Since Hunter knows about Diamond Destiny, you're gonna be in _big trouble_ if you go back there."

Junior winced. "You _do_ have a point," he muttered.

"Besides, if we just give Diamond Destiny – argh, forget it, _Diamond_ – if we just give her to an Orphanage or something, we'll have no proof that she'll end up with loving parents. Besides, those places are _dreadful_." There was a pause, and Junior just stared at the ground for a moment. Wait, was he _still_ considering this? Jesus, it wasn't that hard of a choice! "Junior. I don't want to orphan a baby when I have the choice to do otherwise."

Junior looked up from the ground, met her eyes, and sighed. "Alright, fine," he said. "We'll keep her. But only because we have no other choice!"

"I mean," Tulip said. "We _could_ give her to the wolves."

"No," was Junior's immediate response. "Absolutely not." Every consonant was given emphasis with Junior shaking his head stubbornly from side to side. "Not gonna happen. Nope. Na-ah."

"Fine," Tulip laughed. "Fine, I get it. It was just a joke."

"A poor one!" Junior said.

"Still a joke," Tulip grinned.

"Still a poor one!" Junior said.

"Still a jooo-oke," Tulip sing-sung.

"Still a poor one!" Junior insisted.

Jasper stared at them as they continued their back and forth… was it really good enough to be called banter? He didn't know. The huge stork slowly leaned over to the baby – Diamond Destiny? – and whispered, "Do they do this often?"

Diamond Destiny stared up at him with wide, honest and blue eyes. Her serious expression was answer enough, and Jasper winced.

Jasper sighed. "I'm sorry," he said. "Seems like I'll become your weird uncle." He shot a look at Junior and Tulip, who were now flailing wildly with their arms/wings, and making _weird_ expressions. "…make that your normal uncle."

And time passed. Opportunities came and went, hope for the future rose, sank and then rose again. Jasper got a job. Tulip and Junior found a forest to settle down in for the time being – Jasper wanted them to be close, but no house in the town felt like a home. They didn't really have any money to buy one, anyway.

And then a year had gone past.

Junior was back at camp, wasn't he? Tulip grinned, and bent down to pick up another twig. She could scare him, couldn't she? Yeah, that was a good idea. Or maybe not scare, that was a bit mean, but… startle! Yes, okay, good. Good.

She smirked at her own genius plan, and made her way back to camp, as quietly as she could. She was just about to jump out of the bushes and scream, when she heard – oh! Junior was singing! It was the same melody that he had been humming along to the whole day, and Tulip quietly placed the twigs on the ground.

She was going to scare him – maybe – but for now, she could listen.

" _And I'll use you as a warning sign, that if you talk enough sense then you'll lose your mind."_

Tulip smiled fondly, and cocked her head. The melody was… well, it was a bit sad, wasn't it? The fond smile slipped, and a frown of light concern took its place. _That's…_ _ **strange**_ _. Junior usually sing happy songs when he begins._

" _And I'll use you like a focal point, so I don't lose sight of what I want._ " Junior's voice was growing thicker, as if he were on the verge of tears. _Uhm. Should I interfere?_ Before she could decide, Junior continued to sing. " _I moved further than I thought I could, but I missed you more than I thought I would."_

" _Oh, and I found love where it wasn't supposed… to be…_ " Junior drew a shuddering breath, and instead of singing the next sentence, he merely spoke it aloud. "Right in front of me," he whispered, voice trembling and breaking ever so slightly. There was such heartbreak in his voice right then, and something inside of Tulip shuddered and broke at the sound. Junior raised a wing and pulled it over his face with a barely-concealed groan. "Ugh, what's _wrong_ with me?" he asked no one in particular.

"Hm, which song is that?" Tulip asked, and took a step out of the bushes.

Junior screamed and fell of the rock he was sitting on.

Tulip yelped and hurried over to him. "Oh my gosh," she gasped, and grabbed his wing to help him up. "S – Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, not like that!"

Junior brushed of some dust from his wings. "Ah, it's fine – I thought you were gathering wood. What did you say?"

"Hm? Oh! Uh, which song is that?"

Junior blinked, and smiled a wide, nervous smile. "Song? What song?"

Tulip's expression went dead, and she stared at him emptily like that for a moment.

"Argh, _fine_ ," Junior muttered, crossing his wings and looking away from her. "Fine. It's called _I Found_. By Amber Runs."

"Okay," Tulip said, and smiled. "How's Diamond doing?"

Junior immediately softened, and even smiled a little fondly. "She's fine, as always."

"Good," Tulip said, laughing a short, relieved laugh. "I hope she's not being too much trouble? After Jasper got that new job, it was hard to balance the work between us."

"It was? I hadn't noticed," Junior muttered drily. "But no, it's fine. She's being such a little angle, aren't you? Oh, yes, you are!" His voice turned goo-y at the end of the sentence, at the same time as he picked up Diamond from her place on the ground and raised her into the air.

Something inside of Tulip melted, and her shoulder's slumped as she took in Junior playing with the human baby. "You know," she said. "You'd make a good father."

"I'd _make_ a good father?" Junior stopped his playing to glare at her. "I _am_ a good father, thank you very much."

"-oh," Tulip said, eyes widening. "Oh, you – oh. Okay." She shook her head to gather her thoughts, and smiled widely. "Wow, _you_ 've changed!"

"What are you _talking_ about?" Junior huffed, in fake confusion, turning around to set Diamond down on the ground again. She immediately crawled over to her little collection of toys and began to play with them. Tulip didn't care, she knew that her little darling could watch herself for a few moments.

"Oh, you know, just that a few weeks ago you'd be h _orrified_ at such a statement," Tulip grinned, placing her hands on her hips to give him a playful look. "I remember a stork that stabbed a raft for no reason beyond smiling at a baby."

Junior sighed, giving her a surprisingly serious look. "Yeah," he muttered. "That changed when I had to take care of her myself."

"Hey, I'm taking care of her, too!" Tulip complained, shoving his shoulder.

"I know, I know, I'm not saying that," Junior was quick to assure her. "But I've realized that… maybe… life is about more than just work. Maybe I'm allowed to have a family. To feel real happiness, and not just some… shallow copy."

Tulip's playful demeanor faded, and she met the gaze of her friend, searching for the honesty she knew was there. She found it, of course, beneath layers of trust and friendship and hope. "You know," she said, and reached over to pick up Diamond. When she straightened up again, she smiled softly at Junior and moved over to fling an arm across his shoulders. "I don't need no homing beacon. I've found my family."

Junior stared at her with wide, shocked eyes for a moment, before smiling and wrapping a wing around her waist. "And I've found mine," he said, warmth and joy and love in his voice.

 **A/N: Hey guys! Just a short AN to tell you that if you'd like to read more Storks fanfic, you should go check out my Archive of Our Own profile (under the same name, KatWrech). I post more stuff over there, and I'm abandoning FFN soon anyways. Cheers!**


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